A 49-year-old Devon man took his own life after a police investigation into another man brought back painful memories of his own abuse as a child.

Christopher John Ruth was staying with his brother, Thomas Ruth, on Torbridge Road, Horrabridge, Yelverton, when he was found hanged in his bedroom by his sister-in-law on June 10, 2017. An ambulance was called but no resuscitation was attempted.

At an inquest into his death at South Molton Town Hall on Wednesday, December 6, the coroner heard that pathologist Dr Jason Davies gave the cause of death as hanging.

South Molton Town Hall

Mr Ruth was born and lived in Plymouth but registered at Yelverton Surgery when he moved in with his brother. His general practitioner, Dr Matthew Best, gave a written statement to the court which said Mr Ruth suffered from mental health issues and depression.

In April he took an overdose and was admitted to the Safety Suite in Livewell South West’s Glenbourne Unit. He suffered from panic attacks several times a day and was anxious and unhappy.

When he was discharged he went to stay with his brother and sister-in-law. He felt low and found it difficult to sleep and tried to avoid going out of the house.

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On June 8, Mr Ruth attended the Torbay Health and Wellbeing Clinic with his brother Thomas. Staff noted he struggled to express his thoughts or make eye contact, and his mood was described as low and agitated. Though he reported feeling “hopeless” with “constant suicidal thoughts”, he was marked as medium risk as he said he would not act on thoughts of suicide. He was referred to South Hams’ mental health team.

Michelle Fisher, Mr Ruth’s partner of 17 years, told the court they had two daughters, one born in 2003 and one born in 2004.

She said: “He told me he was abused as a child. He used his faith to help with this. He was made redundant in 2016 and started a new job. He didn’t like change so this triggered his anxiety. He was also under a lot of stress because of a police investigation.”

He said: “It would appear he had been very solid in his family life though his work life had been not as smooth. The police investigation took him back to a time when he was young which would appear to bring back some very painful memories.

“He made one attempt on his life in April and was detained for a short time under the mental health act, before going home with his brother Thomas. He engaged with his GP and mental health services. Clearly he was under a lot of pressure and was really struggling to cope with his life at that time despite the support he had from his family.

“There is no evidence of any third party involvement. Did he intend the act to cause his death? It’s a very deliberate and telling act and we know he had made one previous attempt and had clearly been experiencing ongoing suicidal thoughts for some period of time. This act ended his life. The conclusion I must give is suicide.”